CAT POETRY, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

Haiku by Cat, "Bit"

Last month  I told you about two new ways I’m expressing the writer part of me: Flash Fiction and Cat Poetry. In my previous blog, I discussed Flash Fiction; now let’s consider the second subject, Cat Poetry.

Like flash fiction, a successful poem needs to convey a story (or a feeling or a mood or an image) to the reader. The two forms of writing can be very similar, yet to me, the difference is huge. Poetry is easier than flash fiction. Where sitting down to pen flash fiction feels something akin to doing homework when it’s sunny out, composing poetry is as natural as breathing.

I began writing poems many years ago, long before I’d written or even imagined writing a book. Poetry was something that came to me, artwork in words. Once I’d begun listening to the poem muse, the writing of poems morphed into a sporadic yet integral part of my life.

From poetry to cat poetry was only a simple step, yet it was one I had never considered until I began to read the work of other cat poets. ( Marc-Andre of the Katzenworld blogsite has a weekly post dedicated to cat poetry. You can read my poem, Night Muse, here) The love of cats is so strong in me that the pictures flowed easily once I began to look.

Cat Poetry appears in all sorts of guises. There are haikus and limericks; sincere poems and funny ones; lamentations and harsh realities; scenes from the cat’s point of view and scenes of cats per the poet.

Cat poetry is nothing new. Many of the greats chose cats as their theme. William Butler Yeats wrote The Cat And The Moon;  Emily Dickinson wrote a sweet verse, She sights a Bird – she chuckles; T. S. Eliot is famous for his collection of whimsical poems, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) that was adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the musical, Cats; Margaret Atwood, the author of the current hit series, The Handmaiden’s Tale, wrote the poem, February, which may be about a cat and may be about sexual repression or overpopulation or the life principle (it’s Atwood, after all).

Here is the favorite of my cat poems so far:

Stray cat in Strasbourg

THE CAT WHO PASSES

The cat who passes by

Outside the window

Through the yard,

The long grass

That I do not cut,

The wild weeds that I do not pull.

He weaves like a tabby tiger,

Slinks shadowlike with the ease of air,

So beautiful in his ferality.

He claims his territory

With his scent and his spray,

And levels his yellow glare

At me through the window.

Defiant, daring.

The slightest twitch and he will be gone.

He is a wild one, this cat who passes by.

Have you read or written cat poetry?

Check out more by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:

MollieHunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!

FLASH FICTION AND CAT POETRY, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

Writing is a constant state of discovery. I’ve recently found two new ways to express the writer part of me: Flash fiction and cat poetry. 

I’ve wanted to learn to write flash fiction from the day I first heard the term and had to look it up on Google to find out what it was. Since it takes me longer to write short fiction than an entire full-length book, I couldn’t imagine the process of conveying any sort of attention-grabbing tale in under 1000 words. 

Flash fiction isn’t a new thing, having roots that go back to pre-history in the form of fables and parables. These extremely short works began reinventing themselves as they regained popularity a few decades ago with names like the “short-short story” and “sudden fiction”.  As flash fiction evolved, it split even further into sub-genres. Flash, itself, got shorter, and dribble (the 50-word story), drabble (the 100-word story), 140-character stories known as twitterature, as well as the impossible-to-imagine six-word-story came about. I’ve read successful examples of all but still had no clue how the writers came up with their work.  

When in doubt, learn from those who know. I took a workshop in flash fiction and this is what I found out: 

FF “implies” a larger story.

FF is about giving the reader hints. 

FF is about characters. 

Describe parts instead of the whole. 

Chose a universal theme. 

Condense the story by picking the right words. 

*FF can be a useful tool in blurb writing and even advertising.

The six-word-story was my nemesis, but apparently it’s all about hint. It’s a picture, a still life. It should evoke the imagination of the reader to fill in the blanks however they see fit. Here are my first attempts:

Anxiety. Short of breath. Not again! 

Sign reads “Lost cat”. Heartbreak. Hope. 

Six words? Give me a break!

What are some of your six-word-stories? I’d love to read them in the comment section. 

And I haven’t forgotten about cat poetry. More on that next time.

Check out more by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:

Mollie Hunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!